Department for Communities and Local Government

Planning Permission

baroness hollins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps are they taking to reduce loopholes in planning permission laws and to ensure compliance with the intention behind those laws; and how they are addressing information regarding such loopholes which can be found online.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: Enforcement action is at the discretion of local planning authorities. The Government has given them a wide range of enforcement powers with strong penalties for non-compliance. National planning policy provides that authorities should act proportionately in responding to suspected breaches of planning control.It is a fundamental part of the planning system that applicants have a right to challenge a planning decision. However, in recent years we have taken steps to help prevent abuse:Through the Localism Act 2011, we limited the opportunities to obtain planning permission after the event – either through an enforcement appeal or a retrospective planning application – but not both. We also introduced planning enforcement orders which allow local authorities to take enforcement action after the time limit for enforcement action has expired where there has been deliberate concealment of the apparent breach.In 2013, the time period for applying for judicial review of decisions under the Planning Acts was reduced from 3 months to 6 weeks.In 2014, we established the Planning Court with judges who have specialist planning knowledge and target timescales for hearing cases.The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 further streamlined the judicial review process, by introducing a requirement that courts must refuse permission where a claim is highly likely to have made no substantial difference to the outcome.In August 2015, we made intentional unauthorised development a material consideration in the determination of planning applications and appeals.‘Leapfrog appeals’ were introduced so that appeals can be made directly to the Supreme Court, bypassing the Court of Appeal.The enforcement of planning control is a statutory function of local authorities for which they need to budget. However, there are certain circumstances in which local planning authorities can recover the costs of taking enforcement action. For example, where any steps required by an enforcement notice are not taken within the specified compliance period, local authorities may, under section 178 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, take those steps and recover any costs reasonably incurred in doing so from the landowner. Local authorities can also apply for confiscation orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to confiscate the proceeds of crime, including from planning offences.Whilst the Government cannot prevent the spread of information on perceived planning loopholes online, local authorities can deter future breaches of planning control by making appropriate and effective use of the powers available to them.

Local Government: Newspaper Press

lord porter of spalding: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 9 February (HL5134), what assessment they have made of the cost of publishing and issuing statutory notices to councils and whether this will be included in their consideration of the findings of the pilot programmes.

lord porter of spalding: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that local authorities which have only one local newspaper in their area for the purposes of publishing statutory notices will be protected from uncompetitive practices, such as high increases in the cost of publishing those notices.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: It is for individual local authorities to negotiate advertising rates with local newspapers. My department has not made a specific assessment of the cost to councils of publishing and issuing statutory notices but findings of the pilot programmes, including about costs, are being carefully considered.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

EURATOM

baroness featherstone: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the White Paper The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union, on what basis they intend to withdraw from Euratom; whether they will seek Parliamentary consent; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the withdrawal on the British nuclear industry.

lord prior of brampton: Euratom and the EU share a common institutional framework, including the European Court of Justice, a role for the Commission and decision making in the Council, making them uniquely legally joined. Therefore, the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill provides for parliamentary consent to start the process for leaving Euratom as well as the EU. The Government remains committed to the highest standards of nuclear safety, safeguards and support for the industry, and we will work to ensure that there is no interruption in the quality and robustness of the UK’s civil nuclear regime.

Nuclear Power Stations: Cumbria

baroness jones of moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the levelised cost of energy per megawatt hour for the Moorside nuclear power station.

lord prior of brampton: It would be inappropriate for Government to disclose any estimate of levelised cost ahead of formal negotiations. Discussions with the developer, NuGen, on a possible contract are at a very preliminary stage.

Nuclear Power Stations: Cumbria

baroness jones of moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the strike price for the Moorside nuclear power station under the Contracts for Difference regime.

lord prior of brampton: It would be inappropriate for the Government to disclose any estimate of a strike price ahead of formal negotiations. Discussions with the developer, NuGen, on a possible contract are at a very preliminary stage.

Nuclear Power Stations: Cumbria

baroness jones of moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many local jobs they anticipate the Moorside nuclear power station creating during (1) the construction phase, and (2) operation.

lord prior of brampton: NuGen – developer of the proposed project at Moorside - anticipates that construction will create between 14,000 – 21,000 jobs over the lifetime of the project. In addition, NuGen estimates that the plant will support 1,000 jobs during operation.

Nuclear Power Stations: Cumbria

baroness jones of moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the delay in completion of the Moorside nuclear power station project arising from uncertainties about the role of Toshiba.

lord prior of brampton: Project planning and scheduling is primarily a matter for the developer. The Government maintains regular dialogue with NuGen over the progress of their proposals for Moorside; we are not aware of any changes to the developer’s timetable as a result of Toshiba’s position.

Air Pollution

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of (1) the contribution of soot particles in the atmosphere as agents of global warming, and (2) removing soot from the atmosphere as a means of combating climate change due to global warming; and what action they are taking to reduce soot particles and other short-term climate pollutants from the atmosphere and prevent an increase in such pollutants in (a) the short term, and (b) over a longer period.

lord prior of brampton: Soot particles, also known as black carbon, exert a warming influence on the climate through their enhanced ability to absorb sunlight. They also affect the climate through their impact upon cloud formation and upon the reflectance of the Earth’s surface. These effects make the overall impact of black carbon on the climate less certain.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 5th Assessment Report in 2013 showed that soot ranks third behind carbon dioxide and methane as a climate warming agent, excluding its influence on clouds. Recent work by the Hadley Centre found that the elimination of soot emissions between 2010 and 2100 could lead to an approximately 0.15 degree centigrade decrease in global mean surface temperature. However, as several measures that reduce black carbon emissions also reduce other emissions of cooling pollutants such as sulphate and brown carbon it may not be technically possible to realise this benefit in full, even if measures could be fully deployed globally.The government is taking a number of actions to reduce emissions fine particles (PM2.5) for air quality and health reasons which will lead to decreases in emissions of black carbon and reduce wasted energy resources. These include measures to reduce vehicle particle emissions, increasing the efficiency of wood burning stoves through product standards and raising awareness of the benefits of using quality fuel and the implementation of the Non Road Mobile Machinery Regulations.Other short lived climate pollutants include methane and tropospheric ozone. Reductions of emissions of methane and precursors of ozone are occurring through measures on vehicle and combustion plant emissions and through the natural gas mains replacement programme. In the longer term we have agreed, in the revised Gothenburg Protocol to the Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution, stringent emission ceilings which constrain total UK emissions of fine particles (PM2.5) and oxides of nitrogen from 2020 onwards. Methane is included in our ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets under the Climate Change Act 2008.

Space: Research

lord hunt of chesterton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the emphasis on EU space programme co-operation in section 10.13 of the White Paper The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union, what plans they have to ensure coherent space research collaboration with the European Space Agency and Russia after the UK withdraws from the EU; and why such co-operation has not been included in the Draft Spaceflight Bill.

lord prior of brampton: The European Space Agency (ESA) is an international organisation, rather than an institution of the European Union. ESA programmes will continue to play an important role in delivering UK national space objectives and, in December 2016, the UK negotiated an investment of more than €1.4 billion over the next five years in ESA space initiatives. The UK will continue to collaborate with Russia through our subscription to ESA. The UK’s membership of the European Space Agency will not be affected by the UK leaving the EU and does not therefore require new legislative measures. The Draft Spaceflight Bill is intended to establish a national regulatory framework to enable launch from the UK.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Iraq: Islamic State

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 8 February (HL5121), how many projects are actively collecting evidence against perpetrators of violence, war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Iraq, and what are the objectives of each project.

baroness anelay of st johns: There are a large number of evidence collection projects operating in Iraq. These projects are collecting various types of evidence, of a variety of crimes, to differing legal standards. This work needs to be better coordinated to ensure all evidence is collected to court-ready standards and to ensure that gaps in evidence collection are filled. Through the 'Bringing Daesh to Justice' campaign we are looking at ways to address this need.

Syria: Islamic State

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 8 February (HL5121), whether they are satisfied that sufficient progress has been made in the collection of evidence by the Independent Mechanism established by UN General Assembly resolution 71/248 regarding war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed by members of Daesh.

baroness anelay of st johns: This mechanism will seek to gather evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed by all actors in Syria, including Daesh. It is in the process of being established and is not yet operational.

Islamic State

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have held discussions with the government of the US regarding the preservation and collection of evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed by Daesh member; and if so, whether they have agreed an action plan for the prosecution of Daesh members for those crimes.

baroness anelay of st johns: We continue to engage with international partners, including the US, on the need to gather and preserve evidence of Daesh crimes. It is too early, and not for the UK and US alone, to judge the most appropriate way to prosecute those responsible for crimes of international concern.

Evan Mawarire

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Zimbabwe following the arrest of the human rights activist Pastor Evan Mawarire.

baroness anelay of st johns: Since Pastor Evan Mawarire's arrest on 1 February, the British Embassy in Harare has followed the case closely and made representations to the Government of Zimbabwe. They have raised the UK's concerns with the Deputy Foreign Minister, the Deputy Prosecutor General and the Minister for ICT and issued statements on social media indicating the British Embassy's presence in court and welcoming the bail decision. Officials also maintained contact with Pastor Evan and his legal team.

Iraq: Islamic State

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports by Human Rights Watch that 180 boys under 18 are being detained by the Kurdistan regional government on suspicion of involvement with ISIS, and of reports that they were tortured and deprived of contact with their families.

baroness anelay of st johns: The Government takes any allegations of human rights abuses or violations extremely seriously and stands ready to challenge governments on these allegations. These are grave allegations made by Human Rights Watch and we stand ready to raise concerns with the Kurdistan Regional Government. We are currently working with the European Union Delegation in Kurdistan, other local diplomatic missions and Human Rights Watch to better understand the allegations. Once this process has been completed we will consider what further action will follow.

Turkey: Prisoners

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Turkey regarding the imprisonment of Eren Keskin and Inan Kizilkaya.

baroness anelay of st johns: We regularly raise the importance of the rule of law and fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, with Turkish counterparts. Most recently, the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), raised these issues during her visit to Turkey on 28 January. Through our Embassy in Ankara and along with partners, we regularly monitor trials including those of Eren Keskin and Inan Kizilkaya.

Evan Mawarire

lord oates: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Zimbabwe following the arrest of Pastor Evan Mawarire on his return to Zimbabwe at the beginning of February.

baroness anelay of st johns: Since Pastor Evan Mawarire's arrest on 1 February, the British Embassy in Harare has followed the case closely and made representations to the Government of Zimbabwe. They have raised the UK's concerns with the Deputy Foreign Minister, the Deputy Prosecutor General and the Minister for ICT and issued statements on social media indicating the British Embassy's presence in court and welcoming the bail decision. Officials have also maintained contact with Pastor Evan and his legal teams.

Saudi Arabia: Religious Freedom

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their advice to UK citizens who wish to practise their chosen religion whilst in Saudi Arabia.

baroness anelay of st johns: The public practice of any form of religion other than Islam is illegal; as is an intention to convert others.However, the Saudi authorities accept the private practice of religions other than Islam, and you can bring a Bible into the country as long as it is for your personal use. This advice is available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Travel Advice for Saudi Arabia.

Turkey: Religious Freedom

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are reciprocal rights of freedom of religious observance between Turkey and the UK for their citizens.

baroness anelay of st johns: As a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights, Turkey is committed to protecting freedom of religion and conscience.

Burma: Rohingya

baroness kinnock of holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of findings published on 6 February by Human Rights Watch that Burmese government forces committed rape and other sexual violence against ethnic Rohingya women and girls during security operations in northern Rakhine State in 2016.

baroness anelay of st johns: We are deeply concerned by these reports. I visited Burma in November 2016 in my capacity as the Prime Minister's Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict. In that capacity, I pressed the Burmese Minister of Defence on the importance of the army handling allegations of sexual violence against women in a thorough and transparent manner. I also lobbied other senior Ministers for a full and independent investigation into all reports of human rights violations. During my visit, I also heard direct from Rohingya leaders about the plight facing their community in Rakhine State and I hosted a workshop in which I met survivors of sexual violence along with practitioners engaged in efforts to prevent conflict-related sexual violence.

Evan Mawarire

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the welfare of Pastor Evan Mawarire who was arrested in Zimbabwe on 2 February.

baroness anelay of st johns: Pastor Evan Mawarire is currently free on bail, pending his trial next month. During his time in detention, officials at the British Embassy in Harare maintained close contact with Pastor Evan and his legal team. We have made representations to the Government of Zimbabwe about his case and the situation of human rights defenders more broadly. Officials met Pastor Evan on 28 February and will attend his trial.

Zimbabwe: Human Rights

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last discussed human rights in Zimbabwe with the government of that country.

baroness anelay of st johns: We regularly call on Zimbabwe to end human rights abuses and restore internationally accepted standards. For example, the British Embassy in Harare raised the case of Pastor Evan Mawarire and human rights more generally with the Zimbabwean Deputy Foreign Minister on 2 February, the Deputy Prosecutor General on 7 February and the Minister for ICT, Postal and Courier Services on 8 February.The UK Government made a manifesto commitment in 2015 to stand up for human rights and the rule of law in Zimbabwe.

Middle East: Christianity

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of President Trump's remarks concerning the protection of minorities such as Christians in the Middle East.

baroness anelay of st johns: We are aware of President Trump's statements regarding the plight of Christian and other religious minorities in the Middle East. The Government has deep concerns over the persecution of these groups. We believe strongly that all individuals should be able to practise, change or share their faith or belief without discrimination or reprisal.

USA: Foreign Relations

lord eames: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions have taken place with the government of the US since the inauguration of President Trump.

baroness anelay of st johns: There has been extensive engagement with the US Government since the inauguration of President Trump. Engagement includes the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), meeting President Trump in Washington on 27 January. They last spoke on 14 February. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), met US Secretary of State Tillerson in Bonn on 16 February. The Minister of State, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan), met the Secretary of State for Homeland Security in Munich on 17 February.

Israel: Palestinians

lord eames: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have had discussions with the government of the US on relations between the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

baroness anelay of st johns: The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), and President Trump discussed a range of foreign policy issues during their meeting on 27 January.

Israel: Palestinians

lord eames: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the indication of a change of policy by the government of the US on the Two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

baroness anelay of st johns: ​We welcome President Trump's interest in working for a peace deal that meets the requirements of both parties. The UK's view remains that the two state solution is the best option to achieve this.

Libya: United Nations

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they supported the UN Secretary-General's proposal to appoint the former Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, as his Special Representative in Libya; and if so, whether they made that support clear to the US administration.

baroness anelay of st johns: The UK supports merit based appointments by the UN. We were content with the nomination of Salam Fayyad to the role of Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Libya and had indicated our support to the UN. Mr Fayyad has a strong track record from his time as Palestinian Prime Minister. It is for the US to comment on its decision. We shall continue to support the UN’s efforts in Libya and look forward to working closely with the new Special Representative of the Secretary-General once appointed.

USA: Intelligence Services

lord blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the resignation of the US National Security Adviser following intelligence leaks, whether they will cease sharing intelligence information with the US until the government of the US has provided adequate assurance that future leaks will be prevented.

baroness anelay of st johns: It is the longstanding policy of successive British Governments not to comment on intelligence matters. The Government deplores the leaking of any classified information, wherever it occurs. Such leaks can make the work of maintaining the security of our own country and that of our allies more difficult.

NATO

lord blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government,in the light of current instability in parts of Eastern Europe, what consideration they have given to calling for NATO headquarters to be moved to a frontline state such as Poland.

baroness anelay of st johns: There are already NATO Headquarters in this region. At the Warsaw Summit in 2016, NATO Allies agreed that Multi-National Divisional Headquarters North East, based in Elblag in Poland, would co-ordinate the activities of the Enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroups that NATO is deploying to the Baltic States and Poland. In addition, NATO’s Multi-National Corps North East Headquarters, capable of commanding operations, is located in Szczecin in Poland, and NATO Force Integration Units are located in all three Baltic States and Poland.

Attorney General

Genocide

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Attorney General has advised on whether any UK court of law can make a judgment on whether the crime of genocide has taken place as defined in the Conventionon the Prevention and Punishmentofthe Crime of Genocide 1948.

lord keen of elie: By longstanding convention, the fact that the Law Officers have or have not advised, and the content of their advice, is not disclosed outside Government.

Department for International Development

Greece: Refugees

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they will take to ensure that the UN Population Fund’s requirement for $2.996 million to provide sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence services in Greece, as set out on page 66 of the UNHCR Regional Refugee and Migration Response Plan for Europe January to December 2017, is met; and how much they will contribute towards meeting this requirement.

lord bates: DFID is providing £4.7 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to deliver the 2017 Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan for Europe. This includes protection from sexual and gender based violence and supports access to sexual and reproductive health services in Greece but is not earmarked to a specific agency.

Libya: International Organization for Migration

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether a new International Organisation for Migration dedicated centre, in or near Tripoli, Libya, would help to identify genuine refugees and encourage other migrants to return home.

lord bates: The International Organization for Migration already has a substantial presence in Tripoli and other parts of Libya, and so has the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Both organisations receive substantial funding from the UK for their humanitarian activities, including assistance and advice to vulnerable migrants and refugees, as well as support to return home for those wishing to do so. Their capacity to expand operations is a matter for the organisations themselves.

Department for Education

Schools: Census

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Nash on 4 November 2016 and 6 January 2017 (HL2515 and HL4240), why schools were not informed by the Department for Education of parents’ right to retract data submitted in the autumn school census in October 2016, until 19 January; and whether this right to retract the optional data already returned will be withdrawn, and if so, when.

lord nash: Whilst the requirement for parents to provide information on their children’s nationality and country of birth is optional, we recognise that there was disparity in how the request for this information was communicated by schools during the autumn school census collection. In view of this, the Department has committed to delete this information from its systems, where parents have since refused to provide it. This offer will continue to remain open to parents and will be reviewed in December 2017.Following completion of the autumn census at the end of November 2016, the Department worked with sector representatives to review, and update, our data collection guidance to provide additional clarity on the collection of personal data from parents / guardians or pupils. Schools were informed via a data collection bulletin on 14 December that the updated guidance would address, amongst other points, parents’ rights to refuse or retract data and the updated guidance would be available in January. Following publication of the updated guidance on GOV.UK, the Department wrote to all head teachers on 10 January to highlight the updated guidance and, in particular, that parents can decide to retract nationality and country of birth information previously provided.

Schools: Census

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 6 January (HL4240), why the communication on 10 January direct from the Department for Education to all state-funded school heads in England about the expanded school census collection did not mention the Home Office's access to pre-existing or new school census pupil data in national databases; and whether they have yet done so.

lord nash: The autumn school census highlighted the need for clarification of how the new data items on nationality, country of birth and proficiency in English should be collected. The Department, therefore, updated the data collection guidance for schools in advance of the current school census that opened in January. The Department wrote to all head teachers on 10 January to highlight the updated guidance and request their support locally in improving the collection of sensitive data about pupils in the school census.This communication did not specifically refer to data sharing with the Home Office because this sharing does not include the data relating to the nationality, country of birth and proficiency in English of pupils to which the communication referred. These new data items are collected solely for DfE analysts to use internally for educational research and have not, and will not, be shared by the Department with other government departments.With regards to data sharing with the Home Office, a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Home Office and the Department for Education, which covers the sharing of limited information between those parties, is available in the house library. This MOU sets out publicly how this process works and the data which is shared. As stated above this does not, and will not, include the new data on nationality, country of birth and proficiency in English.

Pupils: Personal Records

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Nash on 7 November 2016 and 8 November 2016 (HL2421 and HL2689) and further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for School Standards on 2 February (HC61932), when and how former pupils who provided their personal data before 2010 for the purposes of their own education and who are now older than 19 will be informed of the new broader uses of their individual personal data by third parties since 2011; and whether they are able to withdraw these data or refuse these uses, and if so, when.

lord nash: The submission of school census data to the Department is a statutory requirement on schools under section 537A of the Education Act 1996. As such, schools do not need to obtain parental or pupil consent to the provision of information and they are protected from any legal challenge that they are breaching a duty of confidence to pupils. Likewise the Department for Education does not need consent to share the data with named bodies or third parties as long as that sharing is lawful and in compliance with the Data Protection Act.Whilst the legislative background removes those needs, DfE takes the rights of data subjects very seriously and seeks to ensure all data subjects are aware of what data is used for what purposes. Aligned with the Data Protection Act 1998, DfE focuses on ensuring data subjects know:the right to know the types of data being heldwhy it is being held, andto whom it may be communicated.A ‘privacy notice’ is a good way to be able to meet data subjects’ rights and DfE strongly recommend that these are used by all schools to explain what personal data they collect, why it is collected, who it is shared with and what it is used for. To support schools with using privacy notices in this way the Department have developed a privacy notice template, which is available for schools to use on GOV.UK, which gives access to further information about the Department's use of personalised data.To maintain public transparency about the uses made of information held by the Department, we also publish a list of 3rd party uses of the National Pupil Database (NPD) that details which organisations have received NPD data, along with an outline of what the data is being used for. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-pupil-database-requests-received)Whilst it is not possible for a parent / guardian or an individual child to opt out of the school census collection, and the subsequent holding of such data by the Department, there is certain information (such as ethnicity, first language, country of birth, nationality and whether a child is the child of someone in the Armed Services) which must always be as declared by the parent / guardian or the pupil where a pupil is deemed mature enough to have capacity to consent to sharing their personal data with others. If the parent / guardian or child do not wish to provide any of this information to the school or to the Department, they should tell the school and it will be recorded on the school system as ‘refused’ and will not be transferred to the DfE as part of the child’s school census return. Additionally some data items (nationality, country of birth and proficiency in English) which are collected by DfE are deemed highly sensitive and are not placed into the National Pupil Database, and thus not made available at all for 3rd party re-use.

Children's Centres: Inspections

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect The framework for children's centres inspection from April 2013 to be updated; and whether children's centres are still being inspected under the existing framework.

lord nash: The Prime Minister has been clear that tackling poverty and disadvantage, and delivering real social reform, is a priority for this Government. We are considering the future direction for children’s centres and will provide further detail in due course, including how stakeholders and members of the public can contribute.The requirement for Ofsted to undertake the inspections of Sure Start children’s centres is currently suspended pending consideration of their future direction, as above.As indicated in the letter of 25 September 2015 to HM Chief Inspector of Education[1], the Secretary of State retains the ability to require Ofsted to undertake inspections under section 98A (1)(b) of the Childcare Act 2006, and that Ofsted itself retains the ability to inspect children’s centres under section 98A (2). We do not want this suspension to affect the normal activity of children’s centres and expect them to continue their work to improve the outcomes for children and families in local areas, including their work on self-evaluation, monitoring and the collection of data. Those children’s centres that also deliver early years provision will continue to be inspected for that provision as part of the Common Inspection Framework.[1] A copy of the letter is attached. The letter can also be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466149/Sam_Gyimah_letter_Ofsted_Inspection_of_Sure_Start_Children_s_Centres.pdf 



Sam_Gyimah_letter_about_Ofsted_inspections
(PDF Document, 305.68 KB)

Ministry of Justice

Young Offenders: Travellers

lord beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 9 February (HL5074), whether the guidance on good practice includes information on Gypsy, Traveller and Roma groups; and whether any secure training centres have active Gypsy, Traveller and Roma groups.

lord keen of elie: Good practice guidance is available to staff on the NOMS intranet and comprises several sections which include ‘GTR Myths and Facts’ and ‘A Brief History of Gypsies and Travellers in the UK’. A youth council is in place at each Secure Training Centre (STC), underpinned by a clear terms of reference that young people have been consulted on. Youth councils provide a voice for all young people in STCs, including those identifying as Gypsy, Traveller or Romany. As part of our youth justice reforms, we will also ensure governors have increased flexibility to decide how best to meet the different needs of all young people in their establishments.

Prisoners: Females

lord beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to extend the terms of reference of Lord Farmer’s review into supporting male prisoners to engage with their families, to female prisoners.

lord keen of elie: Families can play a significant role in supporting an offender; research has found that prisoners who reported improved family relationships over the course of their sentence were less likely to reoffend after release. Positive family relationships have been identified as a protective factor in the desistance from crime.Lord Farmer was commissioned to undertake a review of family engagement, concentrating upon male prisoners, who make up the majority of the overall prison population and to also consider lessons that might be learnt from other aspects of the estate, such as the female and youth estates.As such the Government is confident that although his report will not explicitly focus upon the female estate, any recommendations or observations that do arise will be taken into account by the female estate.We are developing a strategy to improve outcomes for female offenders in custody and in the community, including consideration of family ties, which we will be setting out in due course.

Youth Justice: Ethnic Groups

lord beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 13 February (HL5075), when they expect the feasibility assessment to be completed, and whether cost will be the sole consideration for implementing the change.

lord keen of elie: The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is planning to stipulate the future collection of ethnicity data based on the ‘18+1’ ethnicity categories used in the 2011 Census (which includes ‘Gypsy or Irish Traveller’ as a separate category) as part of its Annual Data Recording Guidance. This guidance will be issued to Local Authority Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) by the start of the new reporting year in April 2017. Once this guidance is issued, YOTs, the YJB and the secure estate will need to make changes to their various IT systems. This requires updating over 150 systems and the technical standards between them. The YJB estimate that the changes will be implemented by spring 2018. These changes will enable YOTs to report using 18+1 data on all young people receiving a new order, whether or not they were previously known to the YOT. We will consider dependencies with existing IT systems, both within the youth justice system and with other local IT systems, and identify the feasibility and indicative costs as part of this process.

Northumberland Prison

lord birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the lessons to be drawn from BBC Panorama’s programme on HMP Northumberland.

lord keen of elie: These are extremely serious allegations which are being urgently investigated by both Sodexo and the National Offender Management Service. We have robust processes in place to closely monitor and manage private contractors and will not hesitate to take action when standards fall short.

Crime: Victims

baroness lawrence of clarendon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last met the Victims’ Commissioner to discuss the historical, financial and legal problems that victims of crime and their families continue to face.

lord keen of elie: The role of the Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses is defined in the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. It is to promote the interests of victims and witnesses, encourage good practice in their treatment, and regularly review the operation of the Code of Practice for Victims. The Ministry of Justice Ministerial team hold regular meetings with the Victims’ Commissioner, Baroness Newlove, which cover a wide range of topics within this remit. The Victims’ Commissioner met the Secretary of State for Justice on 12 December 2016 and again on 17 January 2017 and also met with Dr Phillip Lee on 6 February 2017.

Charles Taylor

lord steel of aikwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why Charles Taylor, the ex-President of Liberia, was permitted to make a phone call from Frankland Prison to supporters in Liberia and deliver a speech to them via speakerphone.

lord keen of elie: All prisoners are eligible to make phone calls to approved numbers for both social and legal purposes and are subject to security and monitoring arrangements. Legally privileged calls remain unmonitored in line with policy requirements

Judges: Security

lord beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase security for judges, in the light of reduced staffing in courts.

lord keen of elie: My Department takes the security of judges extremely seriously. Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service and the police work closely together to ensure that effective risk assessments are undertaken if a judge is at significant risk of harm and proportionate steps are taken to mitigate any risk. Security within courts, including that of the judges, staff and customers is provided in a number of ways. Court Security Officers, who have specific powers under the provisions of the Courts Act 2003 (including a duty to search on entry and the power to exclude, remove and restrain persons in the court) are in place in all courts. These officers are predominantly provided as part of a wider total facilities management contract with Mitie and G4S. Physical security standards are also in place to protect the judges. These include barriers, panic alarms to summon immediate assistance, and judicial escape routes.

Department for Work and Pensions

Welfare State

baroness sherlock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to publish their proposed Green Paper on social justice before Easter; and if not, when they will do so.

lord henley: Tackling child poverty and disadvantage is a priority for this government.We will be bringing forward more information in due course.

Child Poverty Unit

lord watson of invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of abolition of the Child Poverty Unit on literacy rates of children living in poverty.

lord henley: The Prime Minister has set out clearly that she is committed to building a country that works for everyone – not just the privileged few.Tackling child poverty and disadvantage is a priority for this government. To do this, we need to focus on the root causes of poverty, not the symptoms. This is why we repealed the narrow, income-based targets as set out in the Child Poverty Act 2010, and which the Child Poverty Unit was established to support. Instead, we replaced them with statutory measures of parental worklessness and children’s educational attainment – to drive action on the two areas that can make the biggest difference to children’s outcomes.

Social Mobility Commission

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the letter from Lord Henley DEP 2017–0103, referred to in his Written Answer of 9 February (HL 5101), which stated that the Social Mobility Commission no longer has a statutory role in tackling child poverty, and to the answer by Lord Henley on 24 January (HL Deb, cols 547–9) which stated that "we have now set up something better—the Social Mobility Commission Secretariat" to fulfil the purpose of the Child Poverty Unit, how, and in what ways, the Commission will prove more effective than the Child Poverty Unit, and how it will provide the joined-up government approach to tackling child poverty as outlined in that answer.

lord henley: As I set out in my written answer of 9 February (HL 5101) to the noble Lady, I have clarified the oral response I gave on 24 January (HL Deb, cols 547-9) regarding the Social Mobility Commission’s redefined statutory role. This Government has an ambitious agenda for social reform, including taking firm action to tackle poverty and disadvantage. This work is being led by the new Social Reform Cabinet Committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, which has brought together nine Government departments to oversee and agree social policy reforms.

Disadvantaged: Children

lord bird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to prioritise preventative policy-making in their poverty and early intervention programmes.

lord henley: The Prime Minister has set out clearly that she is committed to building a country that works for everyone – not just the privileged few. Tackling child poverty and disadvantage is a priority for this government. To do this, we need to focus on the root causes of poverty and disadvantage. This is why we have introduced two statutory measures of parental worklessness and children’s educational attainment – to drive action on the two areas that can make the biggest difference to children’s outcomes. As part of our approach, we fully recognise the importance of the right intervention, at the right time. This is why, for example, we are developing a new approach to parental conflict. It is based on the latest evidence from the Early Intervention Foundation that children exposed to frequent, intense and poorly resolved conflict between their parents are at risk of poorer long term outcomes.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Forests

baroness parminter: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their future plans for implementation of the New York Declaration on Forests.

lord gardiner of kimble: .The UK is delivering on its commitment to support the New York Declaration on Forests through the International Climate Fund, which invests in a broad range of activities across the globe to support sustainable economic growth, build resilience to the impacts of climate change and help sustainably manage natural resources such as forests. The UK is also fostering public-private partnership approaches to address deforestation. The UK provides support to the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020, which is focused on realising private sector commitments to eliminate deforestation from supply chains for palm oil, beef, soya and paper. The UK’s Partnerships for Forests Programme is using partnerships with private sector companies, public sector actors and communities to encourage investment in forests and sustainable land use. As a signatory of the Amsterdam declaration “Towards Eliminating Deforestation from Agricultural Commodity chains with European Countries” we are working towards collective action to take forward pledges to address deforestation. As a signatory of the Amsterdam declaration “Towards Eliminating Deforestation from Agricultural Commodity chains with European Countries” we are working towards collective action to take forward pledges to address deforestation. Through the Forest Governance, Markets and Climate Programme the UK supports governance-related activities in over 20 timber producing and processing countries. The programme has helped safeguard market access for timber products and has introduced legality assurance systems.  Domestically, the Government’s Timber Procurement Policy requires central Government Departments, Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies to procure timber and timber products that are both legal and sustainable. The Government Buying Standard for food and catering was amended in October 2012 to include a new requirement to procure palm oil, palm kernel oil and derivatives from sustainable sources. All food and catering products bought by central Government must meet these sustainability requirements.

Flood Control: Somerset

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 8 February (HL5157), what consideration they are giving to the introduction of interim flood mitigation measures until the scheme to increase the capacity of the River Sowy and King's Sedgemoor drain system is completed.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Environment Agency and Somerset County Council have recently delivered key interim improvements to the River Sowy and King’s Sedgemoor Drain system on behalf of the Somerset Rivers Authority. These works address priority flow constriction concerns in advance of the completion of the enhancement project and include: Doubling of the flow capacity in the River Sowy flood plain beneath the A372 highway at Beer Wall. The new arrangement prevents road closures as experienced during the 2014 flooding.Removal of a constricting bridge pier feature in the King’s Sedgemoor Drain at Dunball, increasing local flow capacity and minimising the potential for scour damage to a road bridge downstream.Installation of a new control weir at Chedzoy, reducing the risk of flooding in the Penzoy river system. The Environment Agency plans to also dredge arches of bridges over the King’s Sedgemoor Drain at Parchey and Dunball, increasing flood flow capacity by March 2018. The Environment Agency is working with the Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium to improve three structures, which manage the flow between field drains and the King’s Sedgemoor Drain, to increase further its resilience to higher flows.

Environment Protection

baroness young of old scone: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which parts of which primary and secondary legislation pertaining to the environment (1) they, (2) the Environment Agency, and (3) Natural England, judge to be unviable to transpose into UK and devolved law through the Great Repeal Bill; and when they will publish a list of that legislation.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Government is aware of the desire for certainty around what exiting the EU means for our environmental policy and legislative framework. That is why the Prime Minister announced last year our plans for a Great Repeal Bill that will convert current EU law into domestic UK law. Our intention is to ensure a smooth and orderly transition via the Great Repeal Bill.All Government departments are currently reviewing the EU laws that apply in their policy areas and how our withdrawal from the EU will affect the operation of those laws. Defra has a significant challenge in handling the return of legislative competence from the EU. Over 1100 core pieces of directly applicable EU legislation and national implementing legislation have been identified as Defra-owned. There are some policy areas where this transition may present more challenges than in other areas, for example where functions are currently delivered by EU agencies, systems or resources. However, where laws need to be fixed, the Government will ensure this is done. There are decades of EU law to consider, and we must ensure our statute book works on exit and that we provide the maximum possible stability, without pre-judging future decisions Parliament may make.The Government will bring forward legislation in the next session that, when enacted, will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 and ensure a functioning statute book on the day we leave the EU. This ‘Great Repeal Bill’ will end the authority of EU law and return power to the UK. The Bill will convert existing European Union law into domestic law, wherever practical.The Government will bring forward a White Paper on the Great Repeal Bill in due course that provides more detail about our approach. We will ensure it is published in time to allow Parliament sufficient time to digest its contents in advance of introduction of the Great Repeal Bill in the next session.

Schmallenberg Virus

baroness masham of ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the spread of Schmallenberg virus.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are continually assessing the spread of Schmallenberg virus (SBV). Principally, APHA are analysing laboratory results from cattle and sheep samples submitted to the network of APHA Veterinary Investigation Centres and non-APHA partner post-mortem examination providers. This information is published, and updated fortnightly, on the APHA Vet Gateway website. A summary of this information can be seen in the tables below. The total number of SBV-affected sheep flocks that have been diagnosed by APHA in England and Wales during winter 2016/17. There have been no recorded cases in Scotland to date. CountryDecember 2016January 2017February 2017 (up to 22nd)TotalEngland7411361Wales210214Total8511575Source: APHA The total number of SBV-affected cattle herds flocks that have been diagnosed by APHA in England during winter 2016/17. There have been no recorded cases in Wales and Scotland to date. CountryDecember 2016January 2017February 2017 (up to 22nd)TotalEngland0112Total0112Source: APHA  APHA are continually working with both industry and the veterinary profession in Great Britain to improve the evidence base to help further assess the spread of SBV. The sheep and cattle sectors are using media channels to raise awareness of the disease to encourage farmers to discuss suspect SBV cases with their vet. APHA are supporting any subsequent testing. In addition, APHA’s Cattle Expert Group and Small Ruminant Expert Group are working with their sectors and counterparts in other European countries, who have also seen a rise in cases, to gather, share and analyse information, including any early warning clinical signs.

Schmallenberg Virus

baroness masham of ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure the availability of a vaccine against Schmallenberg virus.

lord gardiner of kimble: There are two vaccines authorised for use in the UK for Schmallenberg virus. The decision on whether to develop and market a veterinary medicine is a commercial one for those pharmaceutical companies wishing to invest the necessary capital. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) will accept applications to import Schmallenberg vaccines authorised outside of the UK to facilitate availability. Since the recurrence of the disease, the Government has been in dialogue with one of the Marketing Authorisation Holders of the UK authorised vaccines to discuss their plans for resuming manufacture and marketing.

Nature Conservation: Crime

lord pendry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many incidents of bird crime have been reported in England and Wales in each of the last three years; and what steps they are taking to prevent the commission of bird crime offences.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Home Office collects data on the number of notifiable wildlife crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. Only a minority of the 300 crimes in law relating to wildlife are notifiable, however. This data does not record whether the crime involved a bird or another type of animal so it is not possible to specify how many crimes related to birds. All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which provides a powerful framework for the conservation of wild birds, their eggs, nests and habitats. The Government is committed to ensuring the protection afforded to wild birds is effectively enforced. There are strong penalties for offenders, including imprisonment. Raptor persecution is one of the UK’s six national wildlife crime priorities and is subject to a prevention, intelligence and enforcement plan. The National Wildlife Crime Unit, which is part funded by Defra, monitors and gathers intelligence on illegal activities affecting birds of prey and provides assistance to police forces when required. The Government also helps tackle wildlife crime through the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW), a multi-agency body comprising representatives of the Government, and voluntary bodies with an interest in combating wildlife crime.

Home Office

Refugees: Children

the lord bishop of durham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to assess the capacity of local authorities to accept unaccompanied child refugees brought into the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 in the financial year 2017–18.

the lord bishop of durham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that local authorities have sufficient resources to accept unaccompanied child refugees in the financial year 2017–18.

baroness williams of trafford: On February 8, the Government announced that we will transfer the specified number of 350 children to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act following consultation with local authorities on capacity. We ran a full consultation process, with regional events in every part of England, one in Scotland and one in Wales. Over 400 local authority representatives attended the regional events. Any further places offered by local authorities will be gratefully received, and we will use them to fulfil our existing commitments, including ensuring a fairer distribution of children between local authorities through the National Transfer Scheme.In July 2016 the Government significantly increased the funding it provides to local authorities who look after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. Local authorities now receive £41,610 per annum year for each unaccompanied asylum-seeking child aged under 16 and £33,215 per annum for unaccompanied asylum-seeking child aged 16 and 17. This represents a 20% and 28% increase in funding respectively. In addition, the Government went further and also increased the funding it provides to local authorities for those young people who turn 18 and go on to attract leaving care support by 33%. We will be working with local authority partners to conduct a review of our funding rates and remain fully committed to maintaining the current rates.

Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons Review

baroness hamwee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 9 February (HL5169), whether, in his review of the implementation of the recommendations set out in the Review into the Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons, Stephen Shaw CBE will be asked to refer to those recommendations that have been implemented partially or not at all.

baroness williams of trafford: Stephen Shaw CBE will be invited to assess the implementation of all of the review recommendations during his follow up to the review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons.

HM Treasury

EU Grants and Loans

lord berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total amount of European Structural Investment Funds payments they have received since 2009.

baroness neville-rolfe: European Structural and Investment Funds make up the second largest proportion of UK public sector receipts from the EU. The European finances document for 2015 table C.3[1] sets out the United Kingdom’s public sector receipts from the EU Budget including European Structural Investment Funds. [1]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/483344/EU_finances_2015_final_web_09122015.pdf



Table C.3
(PDF Document, 39.46 KB)

EU Grants and Loans

lord berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will reimburse local authorities and other UK recipients of payments from the European Structural and Investment Funds for any costs associated with requirements to reimburse the European Commission resulting from (1) ex-post evaluations of the current programming period, or (2) Brexit.

baroness neville-rolfe: The Chancellor confirmed that the government will guarantee EU funding for structural and investment fund projects, including agri-environment schemes, signed after the Autumn Statement and which continue after we have left the EU. Any form of ex-post evaluation, to the extent it falls post-exit, will be addressed as part of the negotiations in the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

Public Works Loan Board

lord myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been lent by the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) to local authorities for the acquisition of commercial real estate for investment purposes, from 2011 to 2016 inclusive; and how the PWLB is monitoring the risk from such investments.

baroness neville-rolfe: The Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) is a statutory body that issues loans to local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales from the National Loans Fund. The PWLB is not required to collect information on the specific reasons that local authorities borrow from it, and so it does not hold information about the amount of lending that has been used for acquisition of commercial real estate.Before it can advance a loan to a local authority, the PWLB requires formal assurance from the authority that the loan is within their borrowing powers and the relevant legislation. Local authorities are required to have regard to the Prudential Code when they borrow from the PWLB or from any other lender. The main objective of the Prudential Code is to ensure, within a clear framework, that the capital investment plans of local authorities are affordable, prudent and sustainable. Responsibility for local authority spending and borrowing decisions lies with locally-elected council Members, who are democratically accountable to their electorates.

Department for International Trade

Toys and Games

lord harris of haringey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to restricting the marketing of My Friend Cayla dolls in the UK, in the light of the decision of the German Federal Network Agency to remove them from the market in Germany on grounds of concerns about data security and privacy.

lord price: The Government has robust consumer and data protection frameworks which are led by the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for Culture Media and Sport respectively. Products can be removed from the UK market where they are found to be in breach of the legislation. The Data Protection Act 1998 puts in place a framework for the protection of personal data, balancing the privacy rights of individuals with the legitimate needs of organisations to make use of such data. It ensures respect for individuals’ rights to privacy and keeps their personal information secure from abuse. Any alleged breaches of legislation should be reported through to the Citizens Advice consumer helpline

Department of Health

Paramedical Staff

lord bird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to (1) assess the benefits of community-based paramedicine models of care, and (2) encourage paramedics to apply their training in non-traditional community-based environments.

lord o'shaughnessy: Through their Ambulance Programme, NHS England is working with its stakeholders to explore and assess the benefits of community based paramedicine models of care. The General Practice Forward View includes commitments to increase use of non-medical clinicians in primary care. There are well developed models for paramedics, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other allied health professionals (AHPs) to work alongside family doctors and practice nurses. Paramedics undertake more extensive assessment and diagnoses and treat or refer many patients without conveyance to hospitals. The Chief Allied Health Professions Officer recently launched Allied Health Professions into Action to ensure the potential of AHPs is realised and supports the ambitions of Sustainability and Transformation Plans. A copy of Allied Health Professions into Action is attached.



Allied Health Professions into Action
(PDF Document, 1.22 MB)

Oral Tobacco

viscount ridley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what scientific research forms the basis of the ban on snus as a smoking substitute.

viscount ridley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what scientific research forms the basis of the legality of the chewed oral tobacco products which are predominantly used by the British South Asian community.

lord o'shaughnessy: A range of evidence has been considered showing that there is no safe way to consume tobacco.The ban on snus was introduced by the European Union in 1992 and is currently subject to litigation. As long as the United Kingdom is subject to EU law, current arrangements remain in place. The Government is committed to reviewing the existing legislation by 2020.

Health Inequalities in England Post-2010 Strategic Review

lord bird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 26 July 2016 (HL1172), what progress they have made in meeting the six policy objectives set out in Professor Sir Michael Marmot's final report Fair Society, Healthy Lives, published in February 2010.

lord o'shaughnessy: A range of measures are in place. Safer maternity care: next steps towards the national maternity ambition sets out actions to achieve our national ambition to halve by 2030 the rates of stillbirths, neonatal deaths and brain injuries that occur during or soon after birth, and maternal deaths building on progress already made to improve the safety of maternity services. A copy is attached. Public Health England (PHE)’s Best Start in Life 0-5 programme includes aims for: women fit for and experiencing a healthy pregnancy; every child ready to learn at two; every child ready for school at five; and a reduction in childhood obesity. PHE also focuses on health outcomes with significant inequalities and where rates are poor: oral health; unintentional injuries; breastfeeding; speech, language and communication; perinatal mental health; and monitoring and maintaining high immunisation rates. Since 2014, PHE has been working to build capacity and competency for community-centred approaches within public health across England. In February 2015 PHE and NHS England published jointly A guide to community-centred approaches to health and wellbeing. This document introduces a ‘family’ of practical models that can be used by local government and partners to work with communities to achieve health outcomes, in line with the Marmot report. A copy is attached. PHE’s resources, evidence and knowledge span a range of topics, and supports practical action at a local level to tackle health inequalities. This has influenced the recently updated National Institute of Health and Care Excellence guidance, Community engagement: improving health and wellbeing and reducing health inequalities, a copy of which is attached. More recently, PHE supported implementation of best practice, improved access to knowledge and evidence, supported learning and established an integrated approach across national partners. Local government has lead responsibility for improving the health of local populations supported with more than £16 billion over the five years from 2015/16. This is in addition to National Health Service spending on our world-leading immunisation and screening programmes, and on other preventative activity including the world’s first national diabetes prevention programme. The Government has taken strong action to protect children from the damaging health effects of smoking and launched a plan to tackle childhood obesity. Work is ongoing across Government to address some of the wider determinants of health, for example, through the Health and Work and Social Justice Green Papers. We are also contributing to the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Troubled Families Scheme.



Safer Maternity Care
(PDF Document, 700.33 KB)




A guide to community-centred approaches
(PDF Document, 750.23 KB)




Community engagement
(PDF Document, 150.61 KB)

Patients: Transport

baroness smith of basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent on transporting patients between medical facilities in England in order to receive care, for each year since 2010.

lord o'shaughnessy: This information is not held centrally.